Imagine it’s a really cold day out, so cold that it’s making you shiver. You know all you need to feel better is hot cocoa. You find a local shop, buy yourself a drink and start walking home, feeling warmer and happier. Naturally, once you’re done with your drink, you find a trash can and throw it away, right? Well, in Korea, it’s not that simple. Korea is very serious about its recycling system, and different types of trash go to different places.
I learned about the need to sort trash in Korea. During my first few weeks here, I was confused by the trash-sorting system. It seemed so complicated, with its different categories and instructions written in Korean. In addition, I could rarely find any trash cans on the streets. I actually piled up trash in my room for nearly two weeks before I figured out how to get rid of it properly. Now, I am still learning, but I recognize how beneficial these practices are for the environment, and I believe other countries should be inspired by them.
In the past, most of the trash produced by Korean households would be mixed and sent to landfills. These practices, however, were very harmful to the environment. In an effort to become a more environmentally friendly country, Korea had to implement changes.
